BACKGROUND We have demonstrated that soy isoflavones radiosensitize cancer cells. Prostate cancer patients receiving radiotherapy (RT) and soy tablets had reduced radiation toxicity to surrounding organs. We have now investigated the combination of soy with RT in lung cancer (NSCLC), for which RT is limited by radiation-induced pneumonitis. METHODS Human A549 NSCLC cells were injected i.v. in...

BACKGROUND The immune system may be compromised after menopause because of the effects of aging and diminishing concentrations of estrogen, an immune-modulating hormone. Isoflavones, plant-derived compounds with estrogenic and antioxidant properties, may offer immunologic benefits to women during this stage of life. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of soy isof...

Dietary isoflavones, such as genistein and daidzein, are metabolised by the human gut microflora. Case-control studies have disclosed a link between the formation of the daidzein metabolite equol and prostate cancer risk. We evaluated the effects of genistein, daidzein and five metabolites on two prostate cancer cell lines by determining DNA integrity and cell growth. LNCaP cells contain the T8...

The chemotactic response of Bradyrhizobium japonicum toward soybean seed and root exudates was examined. Assays using various isoflavones and fractionated exudate indicated that isoflavones are not the principal attractants in exudates. Likewise, induction of nod genes with isoflavones or seed exudate before assay did not enhance chemotaxis. Screening of numerous compounds revealed that only di...

Much of the research involving soyfoods published over the past 20 years, especially the clinical research (human intervention studies), has focused on the health of postmenopausal women. This focus is understandable because soyfoods are uniquely rich sources of isoflavones. Soybean isoflavones are commonly referred to as phytoestrogens (plant estrogens). Clinical research indicates that isofla...

Cicer arietinum, Ascochyta rabiei, Elicitor. Isoflavones, Phytoalexins Upon slicing cotyledons of chickpea, Cicer arietinum L ., accumulate the pterocarpan phyto­ alexins medicarpin and maackiain. Treatment of this tissue with an elicitor from the phytopathogenic deuteromycete Ascochyta rabiei (Pass.) Lab. greatly enhances accumulation of the pterocarpans and of other isoflavones and flavonoids...

The pandemic tendency of obesity and its strong association with serious co-morbidities have elicited interest in the underlying mechanisms of these pathologies. Lipid homeostasis, closely involved in obesity, has been reported to be regulated by multiple pathways. mTORC1 is emerging as a critical regulator of lipid metabolism. Here, we describe that the consumption of soy isoflavones, with a s...

Isoflavones are phytoestrogens and natural plant compounds which are similar to 17-β-estradiol in chemical structure. It is known that they can act as estrogen agonists or antagonists, depending on endocrine estrogenic levels, but actions of isoflavones are rather complex due to large number of variables such as chemical structures and mechanisms. Some hypotheses on biological mechanisms have n...

Phytoestrogens represent a family of plant compounds such as isoflavones, flavones and lignans. A wide range of commonly consumed foods contains appreciable amounts of different phytoestrogens such as isoflavones and lignans. Soy and its products are particularly good sources of isoflavones and lignans. The evidence reviewed here represents the beneficial effects of most potential and promising...

Sodium azide (NaN3) (2 mM) was used to induce mutation in black soybean variety CRWD for improvement of isoflavone content. The individual selections were made in M6, M7 and M8 generations, respectively. Both high levels of isoflavones and medium seed size traits were used as selection criteria. Across three growth seasons, the selected five NaN3-induced mutants accumulated more total isoflavon...